[Silthara Palace — Imperial Training Grounds — Continuation]
The night had vanished, not because dawn had arrived...but because two kings had turned the heavens into a battlefield.
The violent pressure pouring from the two Prime Serpents had scattered every cloud above Silthara Palace. The moon watched silently, and the stars themselves seemed to retreat.
Below...the Imperial Training Grounds no longer resembled a place where soldiers once trained. It had become...a battlefield worthy of legends. Ancient towers had collapsed. Marble platforms had been reduced to dust.
Sacred statues that had stood for centuries now lay broken beneath enormous silver scales; the earth itself had forgotten its original shape.
Silence.
Only the heavy breathing of two colossal serpents echoed across the ruined grounds, blood stained the ground.
Prime Alpha’s blood. Corrupted blood. Neither king stood uninjured, and neither king appeared willing to retreat.
Far above...every balcony overlooking the training grounds had become crowded. Nobles, generals, servants, attendants, and knights.
None dared leave and none dared speak because history itself was unfolding before their eyes.
Lord Sharukh stood motionless, and then Duke Aren arrived, followed by Raveil and Zyvera. Lady Arinaya, High Ensi Rakhane, and... Raevahn.
Then Levin, held by Iru, and Arkhazunn, held by Captain Varesh, arrived. For several moments...neither spoke.
Then Raviel finally broke the silence; his voice remained quiet. "...So this...is the true strength of Malik Zeramet."
Sharukh never looked away from the battlefield, but he answered calmly. "No, this...is only his anger."
Silence.
Even Rakhane found no words to answer. Below...the two serpents slowly circled one another like ancient predators, watching, calculating, and waiting.
The frozen wind carried neither fear...nor hesitation. Only the certainty that one of them would never leave this battlefield alive.
Slyvarakh’s silver eyes slowly swept across Zeramet’s wounds; blood continued flowing from the prime alpha’s shoulder.
From his side.
Across his silver scales, a slow smile spread across Slyvarakh’s face as he laughed quietly.
"So...the mighty Malik bleeds." His enormous tail slowly carved deep trenches through the ground. "I had almost forgotten...how satisfying that sight is."
Silence.
Zeramet never answered; his golden eyes remained fixed upon his brother, watching every movement, every breath, and every twitch of muscle.
He had known Slyvarakh before; he knew better than anyone...that the most dangerous attack...was always the one that came after the smile.
Without warning—
WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
Slyvarakh disappeared, the dust exploded upward, and the place where he had stood became empty.
A heartbeat later—
CRAAAAAAASH!!
His enormous jaws closed toward Zeramet’s neck, but Zeramet had already moved.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The two serpent kings collided once again, their colossal bodies twisted around one another. Claws scraped against silver scales. Fangs crashed together; the sound echoed like steel striking steel.
Neither yielded, and then Zeramet suddenly drove his forehead into Slyvarakh’s. The impact shook the palace. Slyvarakh staggered backward before he could recover. Zeramet’s tail descended like divine judgment.
CRAAAAAAASH!!
The blow slammed Slyvarakh into the frozen earth; the entire training grounds collapsed beneath him, and a crater spread outward in every direction.
Dust erupted toward the heavens, and for a single heartbeat...nothing moved. Then...laughter. Slyvarakh laughed, deep, hoarse, and almost delighted.
"...Excellent..." Blood trickled from between his teeth. "This is exactly how brothers should greet each other."
His smile widened.
"With blood."
He rose from the shattered crater, black fractures spread across his silver scales like cracks creeping through ice, yet the arrogance within his eyes refused to fade.
Across from him...Zeramet stood motionless; his own silver scales were scarred. Blood marked his shoulder, his side, and his chest, flowing across his body like crimson rivers upon polished silver.
The wind swept between them and then...his golden eyes slowly darkened.
"...Enough."
Silence.
Another step.
"Shut up..." The earth trembled beneath his weight. "...and keep moving."
For one heartbeat...the entire training ground became still. Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The two Prime Serpents disappeared, not because they had vanished...but because they had become faster than the eyes of ordinary warriors could follow. The night exploded. Shockwaves tore across the capital.
Every collision echoed like thunder; the palace walls cracked, and ancient towers leaned. The lake beyond the palace burst apart beneath waves of overwhelming power.
Above...the clouds split open; below...the earth sank deeper with every impact. They collided once.
Twice.
Ten times.
A hundred. Silver scales struck against silver scales with enough force to shake the mountains surrounding Zahryssar.
Neither brother retreated nor yielded. They had long abandoned the dignity of rulers. Now...only two ancient beasts remained. One fighting for dominion.
The other...for judgment.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
Slyvarakh lunged first, his enormous body coiled around Zeramet like a living prison, tightening with relentless force.
"You were always weak!" His voice thundered across the battlefield. "You protected everyone! You forgave everyone! And that..."
His grip tightened.
"...is why I surpassed you!"
The ground beneath Zeramet shattered and stone crumbled. For one moment... It seemed the Prime Alpha had been restrained.
Then...his golden eyes opened, calm, steady, and unshaken. His voice rolled like distant thunder.
"No...You never surpassed me. You merely abandoned everything that made us worthy of this throne."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM
Power erupted from Zeramet; brilliant silver light burst across the battlefield. Slyvarakh’s coils broke apart. The corrupted Malik was hurled backward, carving a deep scar through the frozen earth before regaining his footing.
He stared for the first time...there was no amusement in his expression, only disbelief.
"...Impossible."
Zeramet advanced, one step and then another. Each step carried the weight of years.
"I carried this kingdom. I carried our clan. I carried every soul you trapped." His golden eyes became brighter than the moon itself as he lowered his body.
"Just like last time, today...again I carry your judgment."
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!
As the Prime Alpha surged forward, the battlefield vanished beneath an eruption of silver light. The two colossal serpents met one final time.
The impact shook the entire capital, every noble, every knight, every servant, and every citizen. Turned toward the palace. Even those miles away felt the earth tremble beneath their feet.
The battle reached its final heartbeat, and it became impossible to follow. One moment they were in the sky. The next they were beneath the earth. The next they were tearing through entire mountain peaks.
Silver scales flew, blood rained.
The ground collapsed beneath every exchange. Slyvarakh laughed madly as corruption erupted from his body; black tendrils swallowed entire sections of the landscape.
His serpent form expanded further, larger and monstrous. His silver scales became covered with veins of writhing darkness. A scream escaped his throat as corruption devoured more of his flesh.
Yet he welcomed it; he embraced it.
"COME ON, BROTHER!!!"
BOOM!!!
His tail slammed into Zeramet’s chest. Several silver scales exploded apart ,and blood sprayed from Zeramet’s mouth, but he didn’t retreat.
Instead—
GRAB!!!
His hand seized Slyvarakh’s throat.
CRASH!!!
He drove him through the field.
CRASH!!!
Again...
CRASH!!!
Again...an entire battlefield disappeared beneath the impact. Slyvarakh roared and buried his claws into Zeramet’s shoulder.
Flesh ripped, blood erupted, and the corruption immediately began spreading through the wound. Black veins crawled across Zeramet’s silver scales.
Trying to infect him, trying to consume him, and trying to make him kneel, Zeramet simply stared, cold and merciless. Golden eyes glowing like divine fire.
"...Pathetic."
The corruption around his body exploded apart.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A wave of silver energy erupted from his body; the darkness was burned away instantly. Slyvarakh’s eyes widened. Then Zeramet moved too fast.
CRACK!!!
Zeramet’s pheromones made Slyvarakh’s breath hollow and then broke Slyvarakh’s jaw.
CRACK!!!
Another shattered his ribs.
CRACK!!!
Another tore through his chest scales; the corrupted Alpha was sent flying through the horizon. His body bounced across mountains like a broken corpse.
Yet he still rose, still smiled, and still laughed.
"Hahahaha!" Now blood poured from his neck and scales. "You still don’t understand, brother!"
Darkness exploded around him. Millions of black tendrils erupted into the sky; the corruption gathered, compressed, and condensed.
Until a gigantic serpent manifested behind him, a nightmare. A monster so enormous that it covered the heavens.
Its eyes glowed silver-dark. Its mouth opened and the world trembled.
"How...how is he still this strong? We have released every trapped soul..." Varesh asked.
"Those are the monsters who brought him from death..." Sarash replied.
"DIE WITH ME!!!" The colossal corruption serpent descended; everything beneath it was erased. Mountains vanished and the earth cracked open. The attack was large enough to annihilate entire kingdoms.
Yet Zeramet simply stood there, silent and motionless. His silver serpent tail slowly uncoiled, his golden eyes narrowed.
Then a pulse.
One heartbeat.
Two.
Three.
And suddenly...the sky turned silver. An ancient pressure descended upon the world: the pressure of the prime alpha, the pressure of the silver serpent with golden eyes. The pressure of a king.
No...a ruler above kings. Silver and golden light erupted from Zeramet’s body; his serpent form expanded, larger, greater, and divine.
The silver scales gleamed like forged stars. Golden eyes illuminated the darkness; the corruption serpent crashed downward—and Zeramet moved.
SLASH!!!
The entire corruption split in half.
Silence followed.
The sky itself seemed frozen. Slyvarakh’s smile disappeared, and finally...he realized he was losing, and his voice trembled.
"No...No..."
Zeramet appeared directly before him, golden eyes staring into his soul. Slyvarakh attempted to move.
Too late.
GRAB!!!
Zeramet’s one hand seized his serpent head.
GRAB!!!
The other seized the base of his tail. Slyvarakh’s eyes widened.
"...Brother..."
The corruption shrieked. Darkness erupted desperately from every wound, trying to save him, trying to escape, and trying to survive, but Zeramet’s grip tightened. Every muscle in his body tensed, and blood streamed down his scales.
Fresh wounds opened across his arms, yet he didn’t stop, didn’t hesitate, and didn’t blink. The Prime Alpha roared, a roar that shook heaven and earth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!
The sound echoed across the world, a horrifying and final sound.
Slyvarakh’s body began splitting apart from head to tail. Silver scales tore, bones snapped. Organs ruptured, blood exploded into the air. The corruption shrieked as it was ripped apart along with its host.
Slyvarakh’s scream became weaker...and weaker...and weaker. Until—
Silence.
His body separated completely. Two ruined halves fell from Zeramet’s hands.
THUD.
THUD.
The battlefield became still; nothing moved and nothing breathed. Only blood remained. Zeramet stood alone amidst the destruction; his entire body was drenched in crimson. Blood covered his silver scales.
Blood dripped from his claws; blood flowed down his tail. His chest rose and fell heavily. Golden eyes stared at the remains of his so-called brother.
The brother who had chosen corruption and the brother who had chosen death. Slowly...Zeramet stepped forward.
He looked down at the shattered corpse, then spoke; his voice was quiet, cold, and final.
"...This time...not even death can bring you back."
The last traces of corruption faded, and the darkness disappeared forever, proving why he is called the strongest in the entire continent.